David Hasselhoff

David Michael Hasselhoff was born on July 17, 1952, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Dolores Theresa Hasselhoff, a homemaker, and Joseph Vincent Hasselhoff, a business executive. His family is Roman Catholic and of German, English, and Irish descent, with a great-great-grandmother named Meta who emigrated from Völkersen, Kingdom of Hanover, to Baltimore in 1865. Hasselhoff spent his early years in Jacksonville, Florida, before moving to Atlanta, Georgia, where he attended Marist School. He made his theatrical debut at age seven in a production of Peter Pan. He later graduated from Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois, in 1970, where he served as president of the choir, captain of the volleyball team, and a member of the speech team, and played the lead role of Matt in a production of The Fantasticks. He went on to study at Oakland University before completing theater training at the California Institute of the Arts in 1973.

Hasselhoff's professional acting career began in 1974 with a film appearance in Revenge of the Cheerleaders, a role he took specifically to gain Screen Actors Guild accreditation. His television career gained momentum when he was cast as Dr. Snapper Foster on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, a role he held from 1975 to 1982. He then starred as Michael Knight in the action crime drama Knight Rider from 1982 to 1986, a performance that earned him the Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Program award at the 9th People's Choice Awards in 1983. In 1991, he reprised the role in the television film Knight Rider 2000.

Hasselhoff joined the cast of Baywatch when it premiered in 1989. After NBC canceled the series following its first season, he invested his own money to revive it for first-run syndication in 1991 and took on the role of executive producer. In its second run, the series aired for eleven years total, concluding with Baywatch Hawaii in 2001, and attracted nearly one billion viewers across 140 countries. Hasselhoff held the Guinness World Record as the most watched man on television. In 1996, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

His film work includes appearances in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, both released in 2004, as well as Click in 2006, Hop in 2011, and Piranha 3DD in 2012. In 1998, he portrayed the Marvel Comics character Nick Fury in the telefilm Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., making him the first actor to take on that role before Samuel L. Jackson. In 2007, he appeared in the Jamie Kennedy comedy Kickin' It Old Skool.

Hasselhoff made his Broadway debut in 2000 in the title role of the musical Jekyll & Hyde, fulfilling a childhood ambition to perform on Broadway. Following that debut, he appeared in Chicago, playing the lead role in London performances of that production for three months beginning in July 2004. In November 2006, Mel Brooks announced that Hasselhoff would portray Roger DeBris, the director of the fictional Nazi musical Springtime for Hitler, in the Las Vegas production of The Producers.

As a recording artist, Hasselhoff released fifteen studio albums, achieving particular commercial success in German-speaking Europe, where he earned multiple gold and platinum certifications. His single "Looking for Freedom" reached number one in both Germany and Switzerland. He launched his singing career with guest appearances on the children's program Kids Incorporated, performing "Do You Love Me." On the 2007 season finale of America's Got Talent, he performed "This Is the Moment" on air.

Hasselhoff served as a judge on NBC's America's Got Talent from 2006 through 2009, appearing alongside Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan for multiple seasons, and later judged on Britain's Got Talent in 2011. He has also spoken at both the Oxford and Cambridge Student Unions.